


Knowledge and Power

by Zerrat



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Behind the Scenes, Emotional Trauma, Espionage-lite, Gen, Obsessive Behaviour, POV Minor Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-06
Updated: 2012-04-06
Packaged: 2017-11-03 03:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/376718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerrat/pseuds/Zerrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kunsel hadn't questioned his folks' deaths at the time. Later he'd reflect that perhaps that naivete was the only reason he didn't end up on the wrong side the killed-in-action emails.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knowledge and Power

The day Kunsel made Second Class, he sent a letter back home to his folks in Junon. He painstakingly detailed the exploits that had finally caught the eye of SOLDIER Director Lazard, and spared no detail in his pride at finally winning the purple uniform. As an after-thought, he added a few derisive comments about Hojo and the Weapons development unit, because _why couldn't they be a bit more careful with their genetic rejects -_

He was fifteen, young and naïve. A few weeks later, he finally received word. The paper was clean and crisp and sterile, and it was handed to him by a Turk and not a courier. Kunsel's hands had shaken as he'd accepted it, dawning realisation rendering him wordless. 

At the time, the nameless Turk had mentioned something about trouble in Junon, his voice laden with false apology and his eyes far too watchful. They had mentioned rogue monsters, brave troopers, and heavy casualties. Kunsel's family were among them. He'd barely had it in him to identify whatever was left of the bodies. 

His sister had been twelve.

Kunsel hadn't questioned at the time, and later he'd reflect that perhaps that naivete was the only reason he didn't end up on the wrong side the killed-in-action emails.

Time passed. Comrades rose and fell at the whims of men who believed themselves gods, men who played at toy soldiers for some unseen goal. The longer Kunsel was at ShinRa, the further it began to hit home that there were no accidents – just knowledge and the way it could lift you up and tear you right down. It was a precious and dangerous resource, precarious like nothing else. He feared it and hoarded it, trying to figure out that fine line between _useful_ and _knowing this will get you killed._

 _Stay ahead and beat the game._ The cat and mouse game became a way of life.

Kunsel stopped vying for First with Zack, and stopped drawing attention to himself at all. Instead he held his cards close to his chest, warning Zack when and if he could. An image as a harmless gossip was his shield against unfriendly eyes. Kunsel was so careful with the line he dared not cross in words – maybe too careful. 

Maybe Kunsel had planted too many doubts about ShinRa without giving enough of the facts, because one day Zack didn't come home from a mission to Nibelheim. Maybe he'd started to question, maybe it was because of those half-truths woven through the emails Kunsel had sent. Maybe Zack had begun to ask the kind of questions that could get you erased, if you didn't have enough of the answer already figured out to know when to run. 

Following the news, ShinRa went through the motions of legitimacy. They always did, even back as long ago as that clusterfuck with Genesis. Zack was killed in action, a tragic accident. It made Kunsel feel bitter. Always with the tragic accidents, as if they could hide from closer scrutiny under the guise of respect for the heroic dead. 

Holed up in his room in the dead of the night, Kunsel would go through sources, his lists from his snitches and his encrypted networks. 

_Stay ahead, beat the game._ It was a hollow mantra now, because while Kunsel knew he was still ahead, it sure didn't feel like winning. Kunsel, far beyond the point of fatigue but still unable to sleep, would look across at the picture of his family and his fallen comrades, his losses now beginning to number far too many. 

What good was all the knowledge in the world, when you had to be so careful with it that you couldn't even help the ones you loved?

Years slipped by Kunsel again in what felt like the blink of an eye, or perhaps more aptly, a haze of information. 

His knowledge of ShinRa's covert murder grew, and still he wouldn't leave. Couldn't leave. Something held him back – maybe it was addiction to the game, or perhaps he thought he could make a difference. Kunsel preferred the latter, preferred to think there was some inherent nobility left inside him, but few could claim an obsession such as his was anything but selfish.

For all his care and all his watchfulness, in the end it was just a a fluke that Kunsel put two and two together, that he found out that Hojo's latest fleeing specimens were not the run of the mill monsters. A chance look in Tseng's eyes, the way Heidegger was buried in consultation with the Science Department for the better part of two days, an intercepted transmission between troops - Kunsel nearly dropped his phone as the lines met up and connected. 

The game and the stakes suddenly seemed meaningless, because Zack was _alive_ somehow and it felt like a second chance. He could _change_ this. He could _win._ Kunsel made the life-changing choice instantly.

Knowledge was power, and it was exactly what Zack needed to stay a step ahead of the armies on his tail. His bag was packed to leave ShinRa at a moment's notice, because who knew when the infantry would finally realise he'd been running interference all this time?

As he fought to keep Zack alive, Kunsel never noticed that SOLDIERs began to drop off the grid. He never knew about DeepGround until it was far too late. He never lived to realise that in the end, he lost the game to a hidden chess master he never even knew was at the board. 

In the end, he just hadn't known enough.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Knowledge and Power [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3624762) by [tinypinkmouse_podfic (tinypinkmouse)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinypinkmouse/pseuds/tinypinkmouse_podfic)




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